On this day in 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first ever live presidential news conference held on radio and television.

Good afternoon. Won’t you be seated.

I have several announcements to make, first. I have a statement about the Geneva negotiations for an atomic test ban. These negotiations, as you know, are scheduled to begin early in February. They are of great importance, and we will need more time to prepare a clear American position. So we are consulting with other governments, and we are asking to have it put off until late March.

As you know, Mr. John McCloy is my principal adviser in this field, and he has organized a distinguished panel of experts, headed by Dr. James Fisk of the Bell Laboratories — and Mr. Salinger will have a list of the names at the end of the conference — who are going to study previous positions that we have taken in this field, and also recommend to Mr. McCloy, for my guidance, what our position would be in late March, when we hope the tests will resume.

Secondly, the United States government has decided to increase substantially its contribution towards relieving the famine in the Congo. This will be done by increasing the supply of corn meal and dry milk, by adding contributions of rice, and by airlifting 1,000 tons of food supplies, seeds, and hospital supplies from a number of African nations to the Congo.

It is the intention of the United States government to meet fully the emergency requirements of the Congo, for rice, corn, dry milk and other foodstuffs from our surplus stocks. Assurances have been received from the United Nations that with the help of this program, the flow of supplies will be adequate to relieve the distressed. The United States government will cooperate fully to help the United Nations prevent famine in the Congo.

Third, I am happy to be able to announce that Captain Freeman B. Olmstead, and Captain John R. McKone, members of the crew of the United States Air Force RB-47 aircraft, who have been detained by Soviet authorities since July 1, 1960, have been released by the Soviet government, and are now en route to the United States.

The United States government is gratified by this decision of the Soviet Union, and considers that this action of the Soviet government removes a serious obstacle to improvement of Soviet-American relations.

Our deepest sympathy and understanding goes to the families of the men of the RB-47 who gave their lives in the service of their country. At the same time, I am sure that all Americans join me in rejoicing with the Olmstead and McKone families. The families, as well as the men, comported themselves in these trying times, in a way which is truly in the best traditions of the military services of the United States. Restraint in these conditions is obviously not easy. But they can be assured that they have contributed in large measure to the final achievement of the objective which we all sought, the release of the men.

You can read the rest at the JFK Library.

You can find out more about this day in history at the History Channel, Those Were The Days, and InfoPlease.

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